


Your Lies in Spring

by Blacksheepwhitelies



Category: Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns
Genre: Drama, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-01 09:55:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20256220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blacksheepwhitelies/pseuds/Blacksheepwhitelies
Summary: Summary: Very slow burn. Ludus-centric. Standalone from my other SoS 3oT story: Time, Steadfast but a different take on the same concept. This one is faster paced with more drama and just a sprinkle of filth this time. Nothing graphic.Another super long fic because thinking up chapter names is too hard.





	Your Lies in Spring

**Your Lies in Spring**  
Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns  
Nanami/Holly (female player character) x Ludus

_Young and in love back then_  
_We rushed through the seasons_  
_And suddenly our hands slipped apart _  
_I had to replace that memory of you_  
_So I broke my heart in half._

((.....

“Congratulations, Nanami.” Ludus hoped his smile didn’t look _too_ forced.

His first love, newly engaged, and to be married to another man. His own failures made him sick to his stomach. He couldn’t show it though. Nanami deserves all the happiness in the world. Not some idiot who kicked her out of his bedroom in a hormonal panic for, of all the things, praising him.

By the goddess he was pathetic.

Nanami was beaming. The ring on her finger sparkled as bright as her smile. Ludus wished it was because of him. He wished it were him who placed that stone on her finger, not the dashing postman who of course wooed the girl straight out of his arms.

Not that he had a fighting chance anyway. Ludus was terrible with women. The twins poked fun at him for it enough so it wasn’t some kind of new self revelation. Nana had hounded him to read up on women for years. He should’ve listened.

“Thank you, big bro.”

_Big bro._

Nanami started calling him that after she the left the inn that one afternoon. Ludus couldn’t be sure but he thought that she left with tears in her eyes...

That couldn’t be true though. It would imply she actually liked him then... and he screwed it up.

No. Best to not think that, Ludus thought to himself. If he accepted the fact that he accidentally pushed away the one girl he fell so deeply in love with, he’d probably throw himself off the waterfall.

.....))

“I think she’s pregnant,” Siluka, ever direct, spoke between bites of her dinner. Beating around the bush wasn’t the twin’s style - if they could drive, they’d just plow straight through it.

Ludus dropped his spoon. It clattered to the table, spilling its contents and splashing his shirt. He couldn’t bring himself to care.

_She’s what?_

“I noticed it too,” Illuka nodded knowingly to her sister.

“Excuse me?” Ludus was surprised he could speak.

Neither of the sisters were looking at him. Siluka was preoccupied with buttering another dinner roll and the elder was silently sipping her glass of juice.

“She has two auras.”

Ludus didn’t know which twin said it. His ears were ringing and his vision was getting blurry. He stood up and quickly excused himself from the table, retreating to his bedroom.

Siluka dabbed at her mouth with the napkin, “Do you think we should’ve waited?”

They could hear their brother trying to muffle his sobs.

“No. Better he cries now rather than in front of her.”

This was true. They were being gracious about it. Ludus would be thankful for it later.

.....))

_She was pregnant._

The tightness in his chest was suffocating.

_She was pregnant._

Is that why Wayne proposed?

_“No, don’t be an asshole about it,”_ Ludus chastised himself.

Wayne loves her. The lad had been romancing Nanami for months. Or was it a year now? he couldn’t remember.

Ludus felt a burning rise up in his throat. He shouldn’t have made that curry.

.....))

“She’s beautiful.” The bundle in Nanami’s arms cooed up at him. “What’s her name?”

Nanami was positively glowing, “Mira.” The baby looked just like her.

Ludus wanted to be there for the birth but he foresaw himself having a massive emotional breakdown in the clinic and instead he made up some half-assed excuse about a work order he had in the city. It wasn’t a complete lie though.

He did go to the city.

It just wasn’t for work...

He drank himself stupid and bedded the first girl that hooked onto his arm. Yeah that was smart. Thank the goddess his tests came back clean.

The wedding was in a couple months. Tototara told him flat out that he is going. Ludus just had to survive that.

He wasn’t sure he could.

.....))

Time seemed to drag on.

What season was it? Ludus couldn’t guess. Lulukoko has three seasons only: hot, wet, and typhoon. He hadn’t left the town in a while, determined to hide away behind his shop counter and never see the love of his life again. Fate seemed to have different plans for him however.

Mira was the spitting image of her mother, Ludus decided.

He’d been babysitting on and off. Tototara harassed him into having the baby around at least once a week so she could feel like a grandmother again (since her own adult grandson seemed incapable of moving on and getting a life.) The woman was jealous the Westtown ladies were getting to see the baby more than she.

Nanami was more than happy to bring her daughter to Lulukoko. Ludus felt like the unluckiest man in the world. Couldn’t he just wallow in self-pity without seeing Nanami’s face everywhere? The goddess must hate him.

“You’d make a wonderful father.” Nanami was smiling at him as bounced her daughter on his knee.

That stung

_Don’t cry, damnit. Not now._ Ludus clenched his teeth together and forced a smile (he’d been doing that a lot lately)

“I’m glad you think so.”

.....))

_“Sorry, could you leave? I need some time to think.”_

_Nanami was sure her heart had cracked in half. That must be why her chest ached so badly._

_She couldn’t believe she was so dumb. She flirted until he got so uncomfortable he told her to get out. Of course he’d kick her out for that. He only thought of her like a sister. She must disgust him._

_“Afternoon, darlin.”_

_Oh. She had wandered back to Westtown it seems._

_“Hi Wayne,” Nanami didn’t have many long conversations with the handsome blonde. His little fan club seemed steadfast in elbowing their way between him and anyone their age with a pair of breasts._

_“You look particularly down today. Anythin happen?”_

_“Ah. No. I just... kind of made myself look like an idiot today.” She kicked at a rock and watched it roll just out of her peripheral._

_“Aha I see. Well how about joining me for lunch? I can whip up somethin for us and I’ll be sure to do somethin stupid so you can laugh at my expense,” The postman winked and offered out his arm._

_Nanami chuckled, “Well if you put it that way... and your fan club seems to be absent right now, so how can I say no?”_

_“That’s my girl! C’mon, I wanna see more of that cute smile.”_

_Oh, he was smooth._

.....))

It was 2AM when Ludus was shaken from his sleep by a persistent knocking.

As he approached the door he noticed the sound was becoming erratic, and he could hear muffled noises on the other side.

It was a baby’s cry. He recognized it. _What the hell?_

Ludus threw the door open.

“Nanami?”

She was shivering, daughter bundled tightly in her arms. Nanami was barely dressed - her sleepwear concealed beneath a haphazardly knotted robe, work boots only half zipped up and he noticed she wasn’t even wearing socks.

Ludus looked over her shoulder. Wayne wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

He guided Nanami into his room and she instinctively sat on the edge of his bed. Ludus draped the blanket over her shoulders and saddled up next to her, holding her close to his side.

“Did he hurt you?” That was the obvious question.

Nanami didn’t speak. She sniffled, tears still running down her cheeks as she rocked her daughter back to sleep.

“Nanami answer me,” Ludus could feel his body tensing up, “Did he lay his hands on you?”

She wouldn’t look at him.

“That’s it,” Ludus stood up and grabbed his shirt off the back of the chair.

He was going to wake up Zahau and they were going to murder that handsome blonde bastard. Maybe he’d bring the twins. He’s certain Illuka would love to scratch the postman’s eyes out when he tells her what happened.

“N-no...”

Ludus was half way into his shirt when Nanami finally spoke, his arms in and ready to pull it over his head, “What?”

He let the garment fall to the ground and knelt between her knees to look up at her, “Nanami, talk to me please.” She looked like a wreck. He reached up to cup her cheek, wiping a tear away with his thumb.

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“I saw him with Carrie.”

_ **Fuck.** _

.....))

_Wayne was handsome. Thick blonde hair, baby blue eyes, toned chest just barely peaking through the unbuttoned top of his shirt._

_He wasn’t built like Ludus though._

_His skin was paler, his body skinner and less muscular than the handyman’s._

_But that was okay._

_Wayne spoiled her with dates and romantic gestures. He was the town heartthrob and he even went so far as to chase away his more persistent fans._

_“She’s my girl, now.”_

_His._

_Nanami felt wanted, desired. He treated her like royalty. He gave her what she needed._

_So she let him take._

.....))

Frank closed the gates behind them. He, Megan, Hector, and even little Colin and Noel followed Nanami’s uncle back down the path from her farm. They all pitched in to help with the farm when they heard the news. Ittetsu and his kids would be stopping by tomorrow with Hinata and Caolita. They all seemed to be operating in shifts.

Frank actually volunteered alone but naturally everyone offered their help. Nanami bawled when she realized how much her friends cared (and how many she truly had.) She was still out of it. All shakes and shattered emotions every time she tried to set foot on her farm, to see the house she and her fiancé once shared.

They still hadn’t gotten married.

The wedding was called off. Indefinitely.

Hector and Megan would tend to the herds, the kids fought over the watering can (and would banter with some little pigtailed girl he’d never seen before that only seemed to hang around the peach tree).

He and Hector had disassembled the farm house piece by piece. It wasn’t easy but Ludus made some loft space in the sheep’s barn to store whatever belongings of Nanami’s he couldn’t fit into his room. He was going to rebuild the house. Give her a fresh start.

He built a new crib too. The old one, originally bought from a fairly fancy shop in the city by Wayne, was chopped up into scrap wood. Nanami was grateful.

There was a lot of work ahead but Nanami was worth every second they spent under the sun. She helped the towns flourish and managed to bring all the residents together. Before her arrival Ludus could count on one hand how often he’d see someone from Tsuyukusa stride through the beachside town. Everyone tended to keep to themselves. They were all thankful for the change.

When Ludus returned to his room in the evening, Mira was wailing. She was getting bigger.

Nanami was sitting on his bed (as usual), rocking her daughter. She was disheveled - hair tied up in a messy bun, her shirt wrinkled and half unbuttoned, and looking like she was going to cry alongside her daughter.

“Here, I got her.” Ludus plucked the baby from her hands and sat beside her. Nanami let her arms drop to her sides.

“I can’t do this...” She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. Her eyes vacant and staring ahead at nothing in particular.

“You can. We’ll be just fine.” He hoped that one wasn’t a lie.

The cries had stopped.

.....))

_Nanami nervously fidgeted with the hem of her shorts while Wayne finished closing locking up the postino._

_They hadn't been dating long but she slept over regularly._

_She could hear his footsteps getting closer as he moved toward the back room. The swinging doors were pushed open and she finally released the breath she was holding._

_“I’m pregnant.”_

_“What?” Wayne paused in shuffling out of his boots, eyes blown wide, “You ain’t jerkin my chain are ya?”_

_Nanami shook her head._

_Wayne dropped his bag to the floor and scooped her up into a hug. He swung her around, her feet hovering just above the floorboards, “Am I really gonna be a dad?”_

_She nodded, tears of joy forming at the corners of her eyes._

_“I love you.” He smiled up at her._

** _The first lie._ **

.....))

It was Sunday when Nanami left.

She had moved out of his bedroom.

And into the postino.

Ludus couldn’t decide if he should drink or cry. He opted for both. Zahau and Haulani kept him sane that night.

And from jumping off the waterfall.

And for not telling nana about it. Bless them.

.....))

_Wayne proposed later that same month she broke the news to him._

_The cherry blossoms were in full bloom. They were her favorite flower._

_He got down on one knee, pink petals falling around their feet. It was beautiful._

_She said “Yes.”_

_Wayne slipped the ring on her finger. It was gorgeous._

_He stood and kissed her softly._

_“I love you.”_

** _The same lie._ **

.....))

Mira’s third birthday was tomorrow and Ludus was putting the finishing touches on the gift wrap. He was pathetic. At least he thinks so. He shouldn’t want anything to do with the little girl.

Especially not her mother.

Ludus didn’t think he could force himself to attend the party. He was a hopeless man.

He made his way to the farm, present in hand. Nanami had finally moved back there. Sort of.

She left Lulukoko for the postino for roughly a year, days split between there and taking care of her farm, before moving back to her home.

At first she still couldn’t bring herself to live in the new house although she was eternally grateful for the handyman’s efforts. She slept with him in his bed, curled tightly against his side.

Ludus didn’t mind. He was deeply selfish in that way. It didn’t last long though. Not long enough for him.

Nanami was determined to get back onto her own two feet and although he desperately missed holding her at night, he was happy for her. She was back on her own again.

She was healing.

Ludus was shaken from his thoughts when someone collided with him at the crossroads. It was Nanami. She was in an absolute panic.

“What’s wrong?” Ludus looked down, where Mira was usually clutched to her mother’s leg.

But she wasn’t there.

“She’s gone.”

Fuck.

.....))

The pair went back to the farm and checked everywhere, under every straw of hay for the little girl but she was nowhere to be found.

Ludus sent Nanami to the postino (he clenched his fists at the thought but knew better than to go himself) while he checked with Megan. Ludus thought that maybe Wayne had taken her, but the casanova was just as alarmed and confused when Nanami burst in and demanded their child back.

Carrie’s attempts at calming her down were in vain.

_ **“Don’t touch me.”** _

The woman was still a sore spot for her. Well it was more like an open wound. A fresh one, still bleeding, the knife still digging away deep inside.

.....))

_Ludus was on the edge of sleep when Nanami moved from his side to straddle him._

_“Please,” She looked down at him._

_The sight of her on his lap was temptation personified. The sleeve of an old shirt of his she wore was slipping off her shoulder, her baby blue panties peaking out from underneath the hem._

_Nanami was sitting exactly where she shouldn’t be. Not if she wanted to get some sleep anyway._

_She knew it too._

_And ground down onto him - and Ludus saw stars._

_“Please.” She sounded desperate this time - she needed to feel like she was still wanted._

_And Mira was at Frank’s tonight._

_Ludus nodded and sat up to pull the oversized shirt over her head, “Whatever you need.”_

_He let her take and take... and god he enjoyed it..._

_He was a weak, weak man for her... but he would be lying if he said it didn’t hurt._

_After all, she still wasn’t his._

_Not really._

.....))

“I couldn’t do it,” Nanami cried. They had taken a break from their search. Nanami looked pale and her legs felt like jelly. Ludus picked her up and carried her to the nearest bench. There were others helping them in the search for Mira, so sitting for a minute or two wouldn’t hurt.

She was leaning forward, face buried in her hands as she sobbed, Ludus rubbed her back in slow soothing circles.

“I tried. I tried so hard... ”

She did.

Nanami had given another shot at continuing her life with Wayne for a year. One painful year.

She’d tended to her farm during the day, Mira in tow, and their nights were spent at the postino. Nanami refused to allow Wayne to return to the farm. He understood.

For a little while she thought she could handle it. Her daughter was bonding with her father and Nanami wasn’t completely miserable.

Then Carrie moved in with them...

After giving birth...

To a baby that wasn’t Brad’s.

The chef kicked her out. He couldn’t bare to look at the child - blonde hair and bright blue eyes just like his father’s.

The age gap between the boy and Mira was only a couple of months. The little girl wasn’t even a year old when Ludus found her and her mother at his doorstep.

Ludus could feel the rage boiling over. Who the hell knocks up a girl and proposes, only to dick down another woman?!

“You did just fine, Nanami.” _**Another lie.**_

It would’ve been better if had she stayed. Nanami wouldn’t be here like this _if she had just stayed with him._

Ludus didn’t know it, but she had thought the same.

Nanami had moved out of the postino with Mira, screaming and crying for her dad, when the girl was about two years old.

She had to do it. Every time Wayne picked up that baby boy, Nanami’s heart broke all over again. She didn’t want her daughter to see it... she didn’t want to have to explain it... and she certainly wasn’t about to leave her little girl behind.

Wayne chose another woman that drunken night she found them behind Ford’s clinic.

And he did it again when he let Carrie and the newborn into his home.

She isn’t sure why but the ground suddenly felt a lot closer.

“Nanami!”

Ludus caught her just before her face hit the dirt. She was unconscious.

He hefted her up and made a mad dash to the clinic. It was probably the fastest he’d ever run in his life.

.....))

“Has she been eating?” Ford didn’t look up as he inserted the needle into Nanami’s arm.

“Somewhat.”

“Have you found Mira yet?” He was adjusting the dosage of the IV.

“No.” Ludus was in a stupor.

“Then get out of here and find her.”

Right.

.....))

It was nightfall when he and Wayne found the little girl hiding in one of the empty barrels behind the postino. They couldn’t figure out how she managed to climb in but it didn’t matter. Ludus scooped her out and Wayne looked up in a silent prayer of thanks that she was alright.

The little girl shuffled awkwardly, aware she was in trouble.

“Why, babydoll? Why’d you run away from your momma?” Wayne was kneeling down in front of his daughter, a finger curled beneath her chin to keep her from looking away from him.

“I’m mad at mommy.” The little girl’s cheeks were red and puffy, her expression shifting between anger and sadness.

“Why, darlin? What did she do?”

Ludus had to restrain himself from speaking. _Of course Nanami didn’t **do** anything._

“She took me away from you,” the girl’s eyes were watering, “Mommy said we can’t live together anymore.”

Wayne let out a deep sigh. This was inevitable.

“Darlin, your momma didn’t do anything wrong.” He paused, “_**I’m**_ the reason why we can’t live together anymore.”

Ludus kept his distance and listened in silence.

Wayne took off his hat and set it on the ground, “I did something bad, Mira. Something real bad and it hurt your mom.”

Mira gripped fabric of her dress in her little hands, wrinkling the fabric. “What did you do, daddy?” She was crying now.

Wayne shook his head and looked away for a moment, “I can’t explain it now... but I will when you’re older.”

“W-why? Why did you do somethin bad to mommy?” The child sobbed heavily as Wayne wiped the tears away with his sleeve.

“I... I don’t know, baby. I just... I made a horrible mistake. Somethin I can’t ever take back...”

Ludus felt out of place. He shouldn’t be listening to this.

“C’mon, baby girl. Let’s get you back to your momma. She worried herself sick over you,” Wayne stood up and guided Mira by the hand.

Ludus followed behind but about halfway down the steps, Wayne stopped. His back still turned to him.

“You take care of them, ya hear?”

_What?_

“You go be for her what I couldn’t.”

And that was it. The blonde carried on, the little girl at his side blissfully ignorant of those words.

.....))

Ludus held Mira as she slept. The two were curled up on the couch in the clinic, the little girl’s birthday present from him - a quilt - draped over the both of them. Ludus wasn’t asleep though - his eyes shut in mock slumber. He felt guilty for listening in. Sort of.

Nanami had woken up just as the trio walked in. Ford had to restrain her from ripping the needle out of her arm and rushing over to her daughter.

An hour probably passed since then, most of it in relative silence. The doctor retreated to his loft upstairs while Ludus entertained the toddler until she’d fallen asleep (after some firm reprimanding from her parents to never run off like that again.)

“Why did you ask me to marry you?” Nanami finally spoke. Her tone even, but tired.

“I...” this was hard, “I did wanna marry you but... I don’t know. Maybe I just wanted to get married. I just... you got pregnant and I was just so happy to be a dad, I... I wanted to do right by you. I thought... I thought it’s what I was supposed to do.”

Wayne was bent over, sat in a chair next to the bed, elbows resting on his knees and fingers roughly threaded through his hair.

“I love... no... I mean...” he threw his head back and groaned in frustration, “I don’t know if this is gonna make any sense.” A few moments of silence passed before Wayne looked back at her.

“I love you... just... not in the way you need me to.” And there it was.

Finally.

**The truth.**

“Oh.” Nanami looked down and just blinked. It hurt to hear... but... strangely not as much as she thought it would.

She understood why.

“I love you too. Just... not in the way I used to...and maybe never in the way I thought I did.” Nanami needed to be honest with herself. Wayne wasn’t everything she wanted-no... needed....

Wayne just wasn’t that for her.

He could never be.

She had lied to herself long enough about it that on some day, somehow, she actually came to believe it.

“I do love Carrie though.”

“Oh.”

He winced. _Probably a bit too soon for that._ “I’m sorry.”

“You aren’t,” She sighed, “Not for that.”

The blonde wore an expression of guilt, “I... yeah.”

Wayne moved from the chair and sat at the edge of the hospital bed, eyes fixated on his boots. “Do ya think we’ll ever be okay?”

Nanami laid back down and closed her eyes, “I don’t know... and I’m tired of lying to myself about it.”

Wayne gave a small nod and held her hand, stroking the back of it with his thumb gently, while she drifted off to sleep.

.....))

Nanami was discharged from Ford’s care and time marched on. Mira began nursery with her half brother in Tsuyukusa, Kasumi eager to mold their young minds.

Nanami still couldn’t bring herself to look Carrie in the eye when they waited for their children outside the school gates (she didn’t hate her anymore though) and the other woman understood - she and Wayne had just become official.

Some of the townsfolk were still reeling from the change and Wayne’s fan club had completely dissolved, which was for the better anyhow.

She was slowly opening herself back up to Wayne _as a friend_ and the postman thanked the goddess for it - he failed to treat her right as his woman so he was going to do his damned hardest to do right by her as a friend.

Ludus started sleeping over at the farm house - a new turn of events. He practically lived there by now in fact. It took Nanami another month before she asked him to move in “for real.” Not that he actually stayed at the inn anymore. It was more of a formality for her to ask, he supposed.

Although they spent everyday together, Ludus was still cautious of their relationship. He’d let Nanami answer the first two times a nosey neighbor asked:

_“So are you two dating?”_

The first time, Nanami replied “No.”

The word was like a spear through his chest.

The second time however, a week later, the answer changed.

(It never changed again after that.)

When they were finally alone, Ludus pulled her into a deep kiss. The noises she made shot straight to his groin... but that could wait. Until tonight anyway. He wanted to soak in this moment.

She was finally his.

.....))

It took time.

A lot of time.

But eventually Mira was allowed to bring her brother over to the farm. The boy loved it and his parents were endeared when he regaled them with stories of him and his sister’s little animal adventures.

_“Mira has FOUR dogs, dad!”_

_“Ahaha that she does, son. Her mom really has a way with animals.”_

_“One is the dogs is even big enough to ride! Can I have a dog too, dad?”_

_“Err... ask your mother.”_

_Carrie shot him the dirtiest look for that one._

It was smooth sailing until Ludus found Nanami bent over the toilet bowl. It took him less than ten minutes to run her up to the clinic.

.....))

She felt a pair of arms encircle her from behind as she sorted the last of the laundry. A hand moved to lay on the growing bump of her stomach.

Ludus whispered softly, breath tickling her ear.

“I love you.”

And Nanami knew that to be true.

.....))

END

((.....

Again, this was just another spin on the fan theory that Wayne cheats on MC. Safe to say I’m done with this concept and believe me when I say I don’t hate Wayne (or Brad) but he does make for some great drama.

And honestly Brad’s role isn’t important enough for me to go into detail with. Sorry, Brad. I did however want to redeem Wayne’s character a little in this one.

The kid’s name was picked from the game’s list of auto suggestions just FYI.


End file.
